HIV Testing: Informed Consent and Confidentiality of Results
Florida HIV Test Confidentiality Law
Health
Requires informed consent for HIV testing and makes the identity of anyone tested, and their results, confidential. Results may be disclosed only to listed persons, and each authorized disclosure must carry a written warning against re-disclosure.
- Where
- Florida
- Citation
- Fla. Stat. 381.004
- Status
- In force
- Enforced by
- Florida Department of Health; licensing boards; state attorneys
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Violations by facilities or licensed providers are grounds for licensing discipline; anyone who violates the confidentiality provisions commits a first-degree misdemeanor (381.004(5)).
- Applies to
- Health care providers and any person who performs HIV tests or obtains or knows of a test result (381.004(2))
- Insurers in the application and underwriting process are largely exempt (381.004(6))
What a privacy notice must say
- Before testing, explain the right to confidential treatment of identifying information and results, and that positive results are reported to the county health department.Fla. Stat. 381.004(2)
- Accompany any authorized disclosure with a written statement that state law prohibits further disclosure without the subject's specific written consent.Fla. Stat. 381.004(2)(e)
Practices it requires
- Do not disclose the identity of a person tested or the results in a way that identifies the person, except to listed persons such as the subject or those named in a legally effective release.Fla. Stat. 381.004(2)(e)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: The exact paragraph numbers for the informed-consent and re-disclosure statement requirements within subsection (2) were not pinned down. | Latest amendment appears to be ch. 2018-24 per the statute history; its effective date was not confirmed.
Research reference, not legal advice.